Fate of Two Lovers
by PlainJane101
Summary: War. At first I thought it tore us apart. But in all honesty I tore us apart. I'll tell you my story. A love story really. So if you don't want to hear it, then leave. But for those of you who seek a wise lesson, please find a seat and shrug your cloaks from your shoulders. Recline and relax because this story will take time.


**Not exactly sure where I am going with this. This isn't my best writing either, buy please, read and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism always welcomed :)**

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War. At first I thought it tore us apart. But in all honesty I tore us apart. I'll tell you my story. A love story really. So if you don't want to hear it, then leave. But for those of you who seek a wise lesson, please find a seat and shrug your cloaks from your shoulders. Recline and relax because this story will take time.

It was years ago. I lived with my father and sister in Bruma, Cyrodiil. He was the innkeeper and my sister and I lived in the Inn along with him.

From what I remember, Bruma was a cold city. A city made of mostly wood and little stone, it lacked variety. All the houses were built into the frozen earth for the sake of warmth. The Count always kept the city's braziers burning to keep us from freezing to death – literally.

Men's beards and women's brows frosted over. Every night, father would sit my sister and I atop the wooden dining table and pluck the ice from our brows. In turn we plucked his dark beard.

Most people did this, so the men were beardless and the women had no brows. It was a strange sight to the visitor, but not to the Bruman.

It was so cold that my body never shed a single drop of sweat in my youth no matter how close I neared the hearth in father's Inn. Now, my blood is pure imperial blood, but we were surrounded by Nords. And most of the Nords were males.

My sister and I would always watch the tall, strong Nords pass and we would pick out which ones we wished to wed one day.

It was also strange that my father was – intolerant of Nords in his own city – to put it lightly. All of his patrons were Nords. He would scowl at the Nords who came in coinless, but those who came with septims spilling out of their pockets he welcomed with a brighter grin than he ever gave my sister and me.

His prejudice of Nords did not stop me from having my best friend being the son of the city's blacksmith, a full blooded Nord.

He was a scrawny little boy with flowing golden locks. He often came over to the Inn and dragged me out to go play in the city streets while my older sister flirted with all the eligible men in town.

We would play tag, hide and seek, and sometimes we would just sit flipping through book after book and sharing the rich stories upon the pages.

Sometimes he would take me to his father's smith and would place me flush against the forge's heated stone. Then he would bring a book that we would take turns reading to each other. It was nice when his father would take a break from forging weapons and heat up some goat milk for us.

One night, he came to the Inn. It was particularly warm and for once I could strip of the goat skin and wear my shawl made from a bear's arm with a wool dress, gloves and boots.

"Hello." My heart pounded from the sudden voice and I spun on my heels to see the tiny Nord. He stood there, bundled with bulky furs and grinning at me.

"Oh, it's you." I acknowledged.

"Of course it's me. Who'd you think it was?"

"Europa."

"Oh, so now I sound like your sister? That's just great. I guess I'm becoming more feminine each day." He laughed at his own deriding joke. I merely shook my head and asked "Why are you here? You know I have to be in bed soon."

"Because I want to show you something! And what better night than tonight?! It's warm!" I would have agreed, but before I could he grabbed my arm and tugged me out the door.

We hiked up some rocks in the dark, him offering me his hand every step of the way which I gladly took.

The starry night went on and I could feel sleep seep into my arms and eyes.

"Are we there yet?" I asked him as he pulled me up a high boulder.

"We'll be there when we get there." I glared at him from beneath heavy lids as he shrugged his broad shoulders, turned and gripped the top of the next rock. He pulled himself up and turned back, lowering his hand for me.

I gripped it and he pulled me up with seemingly little effort.

"This way." He turned on his knees and before him lay a gaping black hole. My stomach squirmed beneath my clothes at its sight. I could just see a large skeever emerging from the blackness and sinking its razor teeth into me.

"I don't want to go in there!" The boy turned to me and clasped my struggling hand.

"Don't worry. I'm here. Trust me, you'll love what you'll see, but we must hurry or we'll miss it!"

"Miss –" I couldn't finish. He tugged me through the hole. It was very dark and the only thing guiding me through was his hand.

"How can you see?!" I cried out, my voice resonating throughout the small tunnel and shaking my already squirming stomach.

"I can't!" Those words frightened me and I would have pulled away from him, but I remember falling into a haze and just moving with him in the motion.

Only when I saw faint blue light outlining his silhouette did I shake my head to reality. I pushed past him, ignoring his calls for me as I rushed towards the light.

Upon reaching the opening where the light fell through, I looked up at the sky and stiffened at its sight.

In the sky were rainbow ribbons rippling like the ocean does, the colors shifting with the ripples. The stars could be seen through the ribbons, like twinkling diamonds in the morning sun on the sea. Oh, it was so beautiful. I had never seen such a sight before. Much warmth pushed against my left side and a secure weight wrapped about my shoulders, but the sky ribbons were so beautiful I just couldn't tear my eyes away.

"Pretty, huh?" I only nodded.

"You want to know why the land of the Nords is called Skyrim?" I could only nod. The breathtaking colors took my voice away.

"Because of the lights in the sky." His hand lifted into view, his pointer making a circle in the air as he said "They rim all of Skyrim and no other place in Tamriel."

"They're – beautiful." I reclaimed my voice, but sleep now sought to steal it away. His arm tightened about my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. Enveloped in his warmth beneath the most beautiful sight in Nirn, I fell asleep, my stomach calm and my mind in ecstasy.


End file.
